Tornéus after the final misses: “Had hoped for more”

Khaddi Sagnia, Maja Åskag and Tilde Johansson went out in the qualifiers of the Athletics World Cup after failing to get up to par when it mattered most. But there is a logical explanation for the missed final places for the Swedes.

– You have to keep in mind that neither Tilde nor Khaddi have had optimal uploads. I was told that Tilde had cold symptoms earlier this week and then Khaddi has had problems with his knee, says Michel Tornéus and continues:

– But it is clear that they had hoped for more. I think it’s really sad, one would have hoped that they would have been able to rise when it’s the World Cup qualifiers, but it’s a difficult situation during the championship.

The future hope

In addition to Sagnia’s injury problems, there were two unproven cards in the form of Johansson and Åskag who represented the Swedish colors. But a missed final place can also be a useful experience for young athletes ahead of future championships and competitions.

– Both Tilde and Maja are very new and it is the first time they are in the hot air. You always hope that you succeed in rising, but you always gather experience to be able to perform and most people don’t make it to the final straight away, neither did I.

How can you train to reach the right tension level during championships?

– You have to gather experience and they must have learned a lot. It is a new environment, sponsors and new opponents, where you are pitted against the best in the world instead of the best in your age group. It’s a big contrast, which takes time to get into.

How is Swedish long jump doing at the moment?

– That is a very difficult question to answer. But you can say that when I jumped, I was alone. Now we have four jumpers at the WC and I think there is a lot of potential, Tilde is 22 years old for example and then we have Thobias (Montler) on the men’s side who has done well in championships before, notes Tornéus.

Just Montler is the only Swede who has not yet entered the championship. But the former EC medalist has had a problem-filled upload and it is difficult to predict his possibilities in advance.

– It has been a tough season and he is in a new situation. It will be exciting to see how he handles it, but he is a real championship jumper who usually steps up when it matters. When you have spoken to him, it is difficult to know where he stands, but the goal is first the final and then accelerate if it goes, sums up Michel Tornéus, on site in Budapest.